Selective unblocking of caller ID based on security level

ABSTRACT

A system for selectively blocking and unblocking the sending of outgoing caller ID information from a communication device comprises a communication device, a processor coupled to the communication device and a storage medium coupled to the processor containing a directory of information entries. The information entries include both telephone numbers and associated security levels. When a call is placed to a number using the communication device, the processor seeks the number in the directory of the storage medium. If an entry is found for the number by the processor, caller ID information is prevented from being sent to the number unless a security level associated with the number is at or above a predefined cut-off level.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/239,928, filed Sep. 29, 2005, which in turn claims priority to andthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/621,579, filed Oct.22, 2004, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed to the field of telephony generally,and to a method and device for blocking outgoing caller ID informationspecifically.

2. Background Art

Cellular communication systems are multi-user, wireless communicationsystems capable of concurrent use by large numbers of users. Thesesystems may be packet wireless communication systems providing voice andother real time communications between mobile terminals operable in sucha system. Advancements in communication technologies have permitted thedevelopment and popularization of new types of mobile devices for usewith cellular communication systems.

With the advancing sophistication of mobile devices and standardtelephony services in general, there is an ever-increasing array ofservices available which may be provided on mobile devices, includingcellphones, PDAs and the like. One such service is a caller ID servicefor voice devices, where a mobile or other phone (which may be astandard phone coupled to a landline) is identified to the phone of therecipient of the call. For communication devices so enabled, theincoming call number can be displayed before the call is picked up bythe recipient, allowing a user of such a system to screen unwantedincoming calls. Furthermore, current mobile phones commonly featureonboard telephone directories which are automatically accessed when acall is received to attempt to match a name with the incoming numberwhen displaying caller ID information.

However, in some situations, a caller may not wish her informationdisplayed in such a manner on the phone of the recipient of the call.Accordingly, caller ID blocking methods are known which allow a callerto prevent her caller ID information from being sent to the call'srecipient. However, these methods are tedious and unwieldy in that theyeither result in all caller ID information being blocked during theperiod in which they operate, or an action must be taken by a callerbefore each call to enable blocking of the outgoing caller IDinformation.

What is needed is a more sophisticated system of blocking outgoingcaller ID information that takes full advantage of current telephonedevice technologies to selectively block outgoing caller ID informationfor calls to certain numbers only.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system for selectively blocking and unblocking the sending of outgoingcaller ID information from a communication device includes acommunication device, a processor coupled to the communication deviceand a storage medium coupled to the processor containing a directory ofinformation entries. The information entries include a plurality ofstored telephone numbers and associated security levels. When a call isplaced to a predetermined telephone number using the communicationdevice, the processor seeks to match the predetermined telephone numberwith a corresponding one of the stored telephone numbers in thedirectory of the storage medium. If a match is found for thepredetermined telephone number by the processor, a caller ID informationis prevented from being sent to a recipient associated with thepredetermined telephone number unless at least one of the securitylevels associated with the predetermined telephone number is at or abovea predefined cut-off level. It is understood by one skilled in that artthat the communications device may include a wireless or wired telephonedevice, a PDA device or any other device capable of sending caller IDinformation.

In an alternative embodiment, a method for selectively blocking thesending of outgoing caller ID information includes placing a call to apredetermined telephone number and searching a directory for a match tothe predetermined telephone number called, wherein entries in thedirectory include a plurality of stored telephone numbers and associatedsecurity levels, and wherein each of the security levels is itselfassociated with at least one parameter having conditions which must bemet so that the at least one parameter may be satisfied. The methodfurther includes blocking an outgoing caller ID information from beingsent to a recipient associated with the predetermined telephone numberunless the at least one parameter associated with the predeterminedtelephone number has been satisfied.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a standard telephone network architecture;

FIG. 2 shows a simplified telephone network architecture;

FIG. 3 is a matrix defining a contact list having multiple securitylevels;

FIG. 4 is a dynamic security matrix showing under what conditions eachsecurity level of FIG. 2 is set to unblock outgoing caller IDinformation; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart representative of one embodiment of operationspursuant to aspects of the invention.

Before any embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it is tobe understood that the invention is not limited in its application tothe details of construction and arrangements of components set forth inthe following description, or illustrated in the drawings. The inventionis capable of alternative embodiments and of being practiced or beingcarried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that theterminology used herein is for the purpose of illustrative descriptionand should not be regarded as limiting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1, a conventional network architecture 100 is shown in which afirst wireless network 160 and a second wireless network 140 are coupledby a network 150. In addition, telephones 136 may be coupled to thenetwork 150 through a branch exchange 135. The network architecture 100as a whole permits communication between a mobile device 162 such as amobile phone or a PDA device associated with either of the first andsecond wireless networks 160 and 140 with another mobile device, thetelephones 136, or any other telephone device coupled to the networkarchitecture 100. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention can beapplied to the network architecture of FIG. 1, as well as to othersuitable architectures.

In one embodiment, the network 150 may provide POTS telephony servicesover a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). In alternativeembodiments, the network 150 is additionally a circuit or packetswitched public data network, or additionally provides higher speed dataservices over an integrated services digital network. It will beunderstood by one skilled in the art that many embodiments are possiblefor the network 150.

Each of the first and second wireless networks 160 and 140 includes oneor more base stations 164, 144 for communicating with mobile devices162, 142. The mobile device 162, 142 may be any device adapted for voicecommunications with the wireless networks 160, 140, including cellulartelephones, certain personal digital assistants, etc.

With reference to the first wireless network 160, transmission andreception between the base stations 164 and the mobile devices 162 occurin a defined coverage area 165 broken into individual geographic cells161, each having its own base station 164. The one or more base stations164 include radio transceivers defining each geographic cell 161 andproviding radio-link protocols to the mobile devices 162. A controller(not shown) may also be coupled between the one or more base stations164 and a switching center (not shown) to manage and efficientlyallocate radio resources for the one or more base stations 164. Thecontroller handles handovers, radio-channel setup and frequency hoppingfor the mobile devices 162, for instance as they move from onegeographic cell 161 to another. As is known to one skilled in the art,the foregoing descriptions are equally applicable to the second wirelessnetwork 140 and its base stations 144, mobile devices 142, geographiccells 141 and coverage area 145.

Communication between the base stations 164 and the mobile devices 162may utilize multi-access wireless communications protocols such asgeneral packet radio services, global system for mobile communicationsand universal mobile telecommunications system protocols, as well asothers. In alternative embodiments, High Data Rate (HDR), wideband CodeDivision Multiple Access (WCDMA) and/or Enhanced Data Rates for GSMEvolution (EDGE) may also be supported.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a simplified telephone network architecture 200is shown wherein a pair of telephone devices 210 are coupled by anetwork 250. The telephone devices 210 are provided with data storagedevices 220. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thedata storage devices 220 are smartcards, more specifically SubscriberIdentity Modules (“SIMs”). The data storage device 220 may containcaller personal data of a user of the telephone device 210, includingthe user's telephone directory.

The simplified telephone network architecture 200 may be used totransmit caller ID data to a user of one of the telephone devices 210from the user of the other of the telephone devices 210. Caller ID is afeature whereby data is associated with an incoming telephone call toprovide to the called party some information regarding the callingparty, in particular, information regarding the calling party'stelephone, such as the source number of the call. In an alternativeembodiment, additional information may be provided as part of the callerID information such as, for example, location information of the phonefrom which the call was placed. This information may be obtained usingknown global positioning system (“GPS”) technology incorporated withinthe telephone.

The called party uses an adjunct box 230 coupled to the telephonedevices 210 to display the caller ID information. The adjunct box 230typically has a liquid crystal display that provides the called partywith the information as the incoming call is being received. In theUnited States, the caller ID information is typically provided betweenthe first ring signal and the second ring signal. Where the telephonedevice 210 receiving the call is a mobile device, the functionality ofthe adjunct box will typically be incorporated within the casing of themobile device itself.

An attribute of the caller ID feature is that it enables a called partyto screen incoming calls by determining, based on the informationpresented, whether the called party wants to take time to engage in aconversation with the incoming caller, or to have the call go unansweredor forwarded to an answering machine. An additional advantage is thatthe called party can benefit from a record of the stored caller ID datato use as a simple look-up device when returning a call to the incomingcaller.

However, in some situations a calling party may not want her caller IDdata to be transmitted to the called party. As such, current telephonedevices allow a caller to block transmission of this information by, forexample, entering a numeric sequence on the keypad of the phone.However, this must be selectively performed for each call or for allcalls.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a system and methodare provided for selectively and automatically blocking the transmissionof caller ID data to particular called parties. The data storage device220 containing caller personal data of a user of the telephone device210, including the user's telephone directory, also contains securitylevel information for each entry in the user's telephone directory. Assuch, when a call is placed using the telephone device 210, the callednumber is compared against the data storage device 220. If an entry isfound, caller ID information will be blocked for that call unless thesecurity level for that entry is above a cut-off level. If an entry isnot found, caller ID information will be blocked or not blocked based ona default setting.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of the database in the data storagedevice 220 containing a user's telephone directory and associatedsecurity level information. A telephone directory 300 is shown havingone or more directory entries 325 containing at least a phone number.One or more security levels 315 are provided that are assignable to thedirectory entries 325. Accordingly, a selection is made along the matrixrows 310 and matrix columns 320 such that an entry in a particular cell305 indicates the corresponding security level 315 has been chosen forthe corresponding directory entry 325.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, rather than have apredefined cut-off security level at and above which caller IDinformation is sent and below which it is blocked, a dynamic securitylevel matrix 400 is provided as shown in FIG. 4, showing the conditionsnecessary for each security level 415, to allow caller ID information.Individual security levels 415 arranged in matrix columns 420 arematched with parameters 425 arranged in matrix rows 410. An entry in acell 405 indicates that the associated parameter 425 must be satisfiedbefore a call to a directory entry bearing the associated security levelmay have its caller ID information unblocked.

For example, in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4, it is shownthat a security level S₁ requires that a PIN be entered in thetelephonic device before caller ID information may be unblocked. Asecond, more restrictive security level S₂ requires both the entry ofthe PIN and that the telephone device be in a first predefined location.The physical location of the telephone device as a parameter 425 may beprovided by known GPS technology incorporated within the telephonedevice such that the parameter 425 is satisfied only when the telephonedevice is in one of a set of predefined geographic locations.

A third security level S₃ requires that the telephone device be in asecond predefined location, as well as that the local time be within acertain interval, before caller ID information may be unblocked.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4, a fourth, least restrictivesecurity level S₄ is assigned a null parameter 425. As such, calls tonumbers assigned this fourth security level will always allow caller IDinformation to be sent to a recipient of the call.

In alternative embodiments, the range of parameters 425 may include theentry of one or more PIN codes, biometric data such as a thumbprint,voice analysis, the physical location of the telephone device? the timeof day, proximity to or use of an enabling device such as a magneticallyencoded card, radio frequency identification tag, and the like. Thislist is not inclusive, and it will be apparent to one skilled in the artthat other embodiments of the invention are possible featuringadditional parameters 425. Just one or more than one parameter 425 maybe selected for each security level 415. A separate parameter 425 may beused for several different security levels 415, or it may be used justonce.

The application of the aforementioned parameters 425 has been discussedin the conjunctive, such that for a particular security level 415, eachparameter 425 designated therefor must be satisfied so that caller IDinformation may be sent. However, it is understood that in analternative embodiment, these parameters 425 may be applied in thedisjunctive, such that the satisfaction of anyone parameter designatedfor a particular security level enables sending of caller ID data underthat security level.

In general, according to the foregoing an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention provides a method for selectively blocking andunblocking the sending of outgoing caller ID information from atelephone as diagrammed in the block flow diagram of FIG. 5. At block500, a telephone call is placed. Then, at block 510, the telephonedirectory is searched. At block 515, if there is an entry in thetelephone directory, the process moves to block 525. Otherwise, callerID information is blocked based on the default setting discussed aboveat block 520.

At block 525, if there is a predefined security cut-off level, theprocess moves to block 530. If not, the dynamic security level matrix isconsulted at block 535. At block 530, if the security level is at orabove the cut-off level, caller ID information is permitted to be sentto the recipient of the telephone call at block 540. Otherwise, callerID information is blocked from being sent to the recipient of thetelephone call at block 560.

Once the dynamic security level matrix has been consulted at block 535,the process moves to block 545 where, if the parameters associated withthe security level in the dynamic security level matrix have beensatisfied, caller ID information is permitted to be sent to therecipient of the telephone call at block 555. Otherwise, caller IDinformation is blocked from being sent to the recipient of the telephonecall at block 550.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the telephonedevices 210 of FIG. 2 may further include a Hardware Security Module(“HSM”), which is a dedicated chip providing encryption and decryptioncapabilities. Data stored in the data storage devices 220, such as auser's telephone directory and other personal information, could bestored in an encrypted state, and decrypted only when needed using theHSM chip.

Embodiments of exemplary Hardware Security Modules are provided inco-pending provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/615,290, entitledStateless Hardware Security Module, filed on Oct. 1, 2004, now filed aspatent application Ser. Nos. 11/159,640, filed Jun. 21, 2005, and11/159,669, filed Jun. 21, 2005, and assigned to the assignee of thepresent application, the entire contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

Furthermore, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that while asystem using SIM devices and a GSM mobile network has been describedherein, the inventive concepts described above would be equallyapplicable to systems that use other types of smartchips and/or othertypes of mobile networks.

1. A system, comprising: a processor configured to: receive a telephonenumber associated with an outbound call, determine a match between thetelephone number and a stored telephone number in a directory of storedtelephone numbers, and if a match is successful, block caller IDinformation from being transmitted with the outbound call unless acondition associated with the matching stored telephone number issatisfied, the condition being based on a plurality of parametersassociated with the matching stored telephone number.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising: a storage medium coupled to the processor,wherein the directory of stored telephone numbers is stored in thestorage medium.
 3. The system of claim 2, further comprising: a hardwaresecurity module coupled to the storage medium, wherein the hardwaresecurity module is configured to store the directory of stored telephonenumbers in the storage medium in an encrypted state.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising: a communication device coupled to theprocessor, wherein the outbound call is placed by the communicationdevice.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the communication device is amobile phone, a wired phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA). 6.The system of claim 1, further comprising: a subscriber identity modulecoupled to the processor, wherein the directory of stored telephonenumbers is stored in the subscriber identity module.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the caller ID information comprises a telephone numberof a calling party.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the caller IDinformation comprises a telephone number of a calling party and ageographic location of the calling party.
 9. The system of claim 1,wherein the processor is further configured to: block caller IDinformation from being transmitted with the outbound call if a match isnot determined.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the conditionincludes a requirement that at least one parameter of the plurality ofparameters associated with the matching stored telephone number besatisfied.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the condition includes arequirement that all of the plurality of parameters associated with thematching stored telephone number be satisfied.
 12. The system of claim1, wherein the condition includes a requirement that a security levelparameter associated with the matching stored telephone number satisfiesa predefined cut-off level.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein thecondition is an entry of a PIN number.
 14. The system of claim 1,wherein the condition includes a requirement that a geographic positionof the processor satisfy a predefined geographic location.
 15. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the condition includes a requirement that ageographic position of the processor satisfy a predefined geographiclocation and a time of the outbound call is within a certain timeinterval.
 16. The system of claim 1, wherein the condition includes arequirement that biometric data be satisfied.
 17. The system of claim 1,wherein the condition includes a requirement that proximity of anenabling device be satisfied.
 18. The system of claim 1, wherein theprocessor is further configured as a default setting to block caller IDinformation from being transmitted with the outbound call if the matchbetween the telephone number and a stored telephone number is notsuccessful.
 19. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured as a default setting to allow caller ID information to betransmitted with the outbound call if the match between the telephonenumber and a stored telephone number is not successful.
 20. The systemof claim 1, wherein the caller ID information includes a telephonenumber associated with the processor.
 21. The system of claim 1, whereinthe caller ID information includes location information associated withthe processor.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein the locationinformation associated with the processor is received from a GPS device.23. A method, comprising: receiving a telephone number associated withan outbound call, determining a match between the telephone number and adirectory of stored telephone numbers, and if the match is successful,blocking caller ID information from being transmitted with the outboundcall unless a condition associated with the matching stored telephonenumber is satisfied, the condition being based on a plurality ofparameters associated with the matching stored telephone number.
 24. Themethod of claim 23, further comprising: storing the directory of storedtelephone numbers in a storage medium.
 25. The method of claim 24,wherein the storing the directory of stored telephone numbers includesusing a hardware security module to store the directory of storedtelephone numbers in an encrypted state in the storage medium.
 26. Themethod of claim 23, further comprising: placing the outbound call usinga communication device.
 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the placingthe outbound call using a communication device includes placing theoutbound call using a mobile phone, a wired phone or a personal digitalassistant (PDA).
 28. The method of claim 23, further comprising: storingthe directory of stored telephone numbers in a subscriber identitymodule.
 29. The method of claim 23, wherein the blocking the caller IDinformation includes blocking a telephone number of a calling party. 30.The method of claim 23, wherein the blocking the caller ID informationincludes blocking a telephone number of a calling party and a geographiclocation of the calling party.
 31. The method of claim 23, furthercomprising: blocking caller ID information from being transmitted withthe outbound call if a match is not determined.
 32. The method of claim23, wherein the blocking the caller ID information unless a condition issatisfied includes blocking the caller ID information unless arequirement that at least one parameter of the plurality of parametersassociated with the matching stored telephone number is satisfied. 33.The method of claim 23, wherein the blocking the caller ID informationunless a condition is satisfied includes blocking the caller IDinformation unless a requirement that all of the plurality of parametersassociated with the matching stored telephone number are satisfied. 34.The method of claim 23, wherein the blocking the caller ID informationunless a condition is satisfied includes blocking the caller IDinformation unless a requirement that a security level parameterassociated with the matching stored telephone number meets a predefinedcut-off level is satisfied.
 35. The method of claim 23, wherein theblocking the caller ID information unless a condition is satisfiedincludes blocking the caller ID information unless an entry of a PINnumber is performed.
 36. The method of claim 23, wherein the blockingthe caller ID information unless a condition is satisfied includesblocking the caller ID information unless a requirement that ageographic position meets a predefined geographic location is satisfied.37. The method of claim 23, wherein the blocking the caller IDinformation unless a condition is satisfied includes blocking the callerID information unless a requirement that a geographic position meets apredefined geographic location and a time of the outbound call is withina certain time interval is satisfied.
 38. The method of claim 23,wherein the blocking the caller ID information unless a condition issatisfied includes blocking the caller ID information unless a biometricdata requirement is satisfied.
 39. The method of claim 23, wherein theblocking the caller ID information unless a condition is satisfiedincludes blocking the caller ID information unless a requirement thatproximity of an enabling device is satisfied.
 40. The method of claim23, further comprising: if the match is not successful, blocking callerID information from being transmitted with the outbound call as adefault setting.
 41. The method of claim 23, further comprising: if thematch is not successful, allowing caller ID information to betransmitted with the outbound call as a default setting.
 42. The methodof claim 23, wherein the blocking caller ID information includesblocking a telephone number associated with a processor that performs atleast one of the steps of receiving, determining and blocking.
 43. Themethod of claim 23, wherein the blocking caller ID information includesblocking location information associated with a processor that performsat least one of the steps of receiving, determining and blocking. 44.The method of claim 43, further comprising: receiving the locationinformation from a GPS device.
 45. A system, comprising: a processorconfigured to: receive a telephone number associated with an outboundcall, determine a match between the telephone number and a storedtelephone number in a directory of stored telephone numbers, and if amatch is successful, block caller ID information from being transmittedwith the outbound call unless a condition associated with the matchingstored telephone number is satisfied, wherein the condition includes arequirement that proximity of an enabling device be satisfied.